Factors Affecting Nurse Anesthetists' Transition from Clinical Practice to Academia: A Scoping Review

Workforce shortages influence all areas of healthcare including healthcare education. While recruitment and retention are known barriers within academia, the factors associated with the nurse anesthetist's transition from clinician to academics are unknown. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify factors that affect the transition from nurse anesthesia clinical practice to academia. A scoping review was conducted using the framework of Arksey and O'Malley. The search was performed using MEDLINE and CINAHL databases. Review selection was performed by two teams of two independent reviewers and summary of findings input into a comprehensive table. The search identified 733 articles published from 2014 to May 2023. Reviews were limited in nurse anesthesia and mainly consisted of alternate nursing specialties. Seven themes were extrapolated from the findings including mentorship (82%), orientation (47%), work-life balance (41%), early identification and empowerment (18%), formal pedagogical training (41%), faculty compensation (29%), and alternative faculty positions (23%). The review overwhelmingly revealed educator strategies available for undergraduate nursing, nurse practitioners, and midwifery, but not for nurse anesthetists. To gain a more robust knowledge of this current issue, additional research is required to educate, support, inform, and evaluate the current nurse anesthesia transition to academia process.